Adventure » A Cruising Couple

You’re Invited To Celebrate Our Anniversary…In Hong Kong!

May 152013

We’re two years old today!

Okay, it’s just our marriage that is two years old.

And it’s not actually today, it’s May 20^th.

But we’re calling it close enough since we started celebrating when we flew into Hong Kong at the crack of dawn this morning. Don’t worry. We’re not going to ramble on about how these have been the happiest two years of our lives or how we grow more in love everyday or even how we’re so lucky to be living our dreams together. Although we totally could share those things with you, we figured it be better to save the lovey-dovey stuff for ourselves. Or maybe our facebook statuses just to piss people off.

Still, it is our anniversary. And the only reason why we started this blog in the first place was for a site to share our honeymoon adventure. We never imagined A Cruising Couple would survive this long, change so much. And what’s even more exciting is that we’re not planning on stepping away from the blogging scene any time soon. Exciting for us at least. You can make your own call on that one.

So we want to say thank you for sticking with us. If you’re reading this now and you can remember those first blog posts we pumped out—wow. It’s quite amazing you’ve stayed along for the ride. And if you’re only now stopping by for the first time, we hope you’ll come back again. We appreciate all of you more than you might realize. Once again, thank you. You rock.

Okay, we promised we wouldn’t get lovey-dovey, so let’s switch gears. Last year we were so fortunate to celebrate our one-year anniversary basking in the sun in the Philippines. We split our time between the Amorita Resort in Bohol and scuba diving through scenes taken straight from ‘Finding Nemo’ at Apo Island. We also saw these guys:

I was beyond stoked. Aren’t they seriously the cutest critters ever?

As much as we love our tropical getaways, we’ve also got a soft place for concrete jungles. And roulette. Hong Kong and Macau easily won the bid for this year’s anniversary destination. World-class dining, top-tier casinos, Portuguese history, and great shopping are just a few of the reasons why we can’t wait to start exploring. But other than our Hong Kong Foodie Tour (which we are drooling over just thinking about) we’ve been a bit too busy to make any other plans for our time here.

It’s kind of nice not having any idea what we’ll be getting ourselves into, but we don’t want to miss out on the best of Hong Kong either.

So here’s your invitation to be a part of our trip: If you happen to have any secrets about the best spot to take snapshots of the skyline or your favorite cocktail venue that won’t break the bank, pretty please let’s hear it in the comments! Really, any Hong Kong tips would be amazing.

Did we mention that you guys are awesome?

Photo Friday | You Can’t Spell Gorgeous without Gorge | Taroko Gorge, Taiwan

May 102013

It’s a fact: you can’t spell gorgeous without gorge. And Taroko Gorge certainly fits the bill. This is the Shakadang Trail; it’s the first path you’ll come across after entering the national park. I’m not sure what they put in that water but it is a serious hue of aqua. Also, I may have spent our entire walk yelling “mucho azul aguaaaa”, but that’s not important. Be sure to check out our full post about Taroko Gorge for more photos and info.

How to Change a Flat Tire: A Lesson in Generosity

Apr 112013

How do you fix a flat tire in Taiwan?

20 really friendly Taiwanese people, 5 smart phones, 1 awesome blue truck driving us around for free, and we still don’t have the answer.

If you happen to be a fan of our facebook page, (which you totally should be, btw ;-p) then you might have seen this status pop-up on your news feed. We’ve had a lot of questions about the details, so without further ado, here is the ridiculousness behind my broken bicycle’s flat tire.

Our first day of cycling from Hualien to Taitung began fabulously. Although rain was plaguing the rest of Taiwan, we managed to find a pocket of sunshine on the East Coast, which only amped up our spirits more. DIY cliff bars and emergency rain ponchos in store, no hills could slow us down; no worries could weigh us down. Or so we thought.

Then there was this whole matter of lunch. And somewhere between parking our bicycles and carbo-loading on fried rice, cycling got a lot more difficult. At first I thought the struggle was most likely a derivative of stuffing my face with about 10,000 calories of oily carbohydrates. But after a few moments of feeling like I was riding over cobblestone and carrying a ton of bricks, I realized that my bike tire was as flat as a pancake. Like, so flat that the outer tire was actually flopping out of the metal tire frame. Don’t judge me for the fact I didn’t notice immediately; if you don’t remember, bikes and I are still just getting acquainted.

So I have a flat tire. Not that big of a deal, right? Well, for starters, we didn’t have a tire patch kit. No matter, we thought. We’ll just try to pump it up anyway! Kudos to Dan who got down on his hands and knees, two bike toolkits in hand, and somehow managed to stuff the outer tire back into the frame and inflate it. I, along with twenty roadside-dwelling monkeys, acted as the spectators cheering him on.

And then we were off! Joyfully coasting along with wind-blown hair, riding into the sunset as adorable monkeys scampered after us fist pumping and giving high fives. NOT. It looked a little more like this: The monkeys were long-gone from the boredom of watching Dan struggle, and of course, all the air immediately hissed out of the quasi-salvaged tire at the first notion of butt-to-seat contact.

So there we were, literally stranded miles away from anything more than…well…anything. The sun was now cut off by clouds, rain threatened, we had run out of ideas. The flat tire was so out of shape that the inner tube was flopping out and catching on the brake, making it impossible to even walk the bike for more than a few steps.

This is the part of the story where the focus shifts from us being hopelessly stranded to the fact that Taiwanese people are amazingly generous. It’s something we’re constantly reminded of, but this experience really crystallized it for us.

Back to us looking like helpless foreigners on the road. With the first SUV that passed by, Dan and I were waving our arms in the air like madmen—and wouldn’t you know, they stopped. The passengers were a young woman and her sweet niece who were also vacationing on the East Coast. After about ten minutes of broken dialogue explaining our situation, they quickly took it upon themselves to help us get to Ruisui and the nearest Giant repair shop. It took about five phone calls with the local taxi hubs to figure out that no taxis go to where we were stuck. The woman insisted on loading my dirty, muddy bike, and me, into her immaculate and probably brand new vehicle. Dan followed behind, and it wasn’t long before we arrived at the next ‘town’—a term I’m using extremely loosely.

At this ‘town’, which consisted of about five mom-and-pop noodle shops, there were also no taxis, no convenient stores, no anything, aside from more carbs. Two fellow bikers passed by, and although they also tried to help us with their spare tire, it just didn’t do the trick. An hour later, we knew dusk would be approaching soon. The only obvious answer was to flag down a blue truck. If you’re not familiar with blue trucks, they are the ominous sharks of the road in Taiwan. Reckless, beetle-nut chewing drivers are the stereotype, and it is typically best to keep your scootering-self away from their blind fury. That is, until you need to transport two bicycles. Then those blue trucks become your best friend.

We were lucky to be picked up off the road yet again, continuing our quest. Dan piled into the back of the pickup truck, and I took up camp in the front. Our new friend swore he could take us to a bike shop in another small town where he lived, about 30 minutes past Ruishui. We agreed, primarily because it seemed he couldn’t get the truck up the small road that would quickly bring us to our sleeping abode and Giant store. And while he did manage to efficiently bring us to a bike repair shop, the owner was away for at least two days. Of course.

If there’s one thing two stranded foreigners does, it’s create a crowd. Although we still had a flat tire and were essentially left high and dry, we now had a posse of about 10 Taiwanese people invested in helping us. Phone calls were made to God knows where. Most of the chit chat revolved around how two ‘white people’ had been picked up off the side of the road. And then finally, the solution that we had been trying to suggest presented itself: why not drive them to their hotel in Ruishui, where the bike repair shop is located? I guess the main problem with this was getting the blue truck up the steep side roads, but somehow a map was programmed and we set off on two hours of driving through the mountains, in a circle, to bring us back toward Ruishui.

Ahhhh. We were so thankful that literally twenty people had now been involved in helping us; we just didn’t understand why it took so long to solve a seemingly simple problem. One of the issues with not speaking Chinese like we should after nearly two years of living here.

Anyway, we assumed the worse was over with. We made it, and at 9 o’clock sharp we could rock up to the bike store, change the flat tire, and be on our way. Of course, in between then, another five people in Ruisui insisted on trying to fix the flat tire, despite our incessant replies that it really wasn’t necessary. But boy were we wrong about our problems being over. We did change the flat tire, and we did get on our way. But after about ten minutes of biking and twenty more photo ops, I changed gears, and the back tire simultaneously popped again. I have no idea if there was actually a connection between the two, but I didn’t really care. We were left with a broken bike, again, for the second time in twelve hours! Luckily we were closer to civilization this time, and it wasn’t long before I requested a new bike and we were actually continuing our ride for good, albeit a few hours later than originally planned.

I was annoyed, yes. But I was also grateful that so many people were there to help us. Everyone who passed by and saw what was going on felt personably responsible for solving our predicament. For free. Without us asking them. We were in that blue truck for probably close to three hours, not including the time it must have taken the driver to get back home, yet our friend refused to take any money from us. Not even for gas, let alone his time. If I ever try to explain why I love Taiwan so much, it always comes back to moments like this: jaw-dropping demonstrations of kindness, with no expectations in return. I’ve definitely learned something from the Taiwanese on what it means to be a good host, to be gracious, and to put others above personal convenience. And for that, I’m extremely thankful, even if it means arriving later than expected.

Cycling Taiwan’s East Coast: On the Road Again

Apr 082013

Bikes and I haven’t always been the best of friends. Don’t get me wrong—as a child, I had a bike like any other little girl, complete with tassels on the handlebars and a basket on the front. It was probably pink. But then, somewhere between being six and sixteen, I kinda forgot how to ride a bike. I know. You’re thinking the one thing ‘they’ say is that you never forget how to ride a bike. In all honesty I still knew how, I was just severely out of practice. So severely that I pretty much just wobbled around whenever I tried to pedal, spending the majority of my time swerving back and forth across the street. Yea, this was in high school. Kinda embarrassing.

And then there was this time in Italy. I was teaching at an English camp in the small city of Piacenza, and staying with a lovely host family. They gifted me with a beautiful bike to borrow for my brief time spent at their home, which I was thrilled about, because something about quaintly biking around a picturesque Italian piazza sounded perfect. However, the host family wasn’t so thrilled when I actually got on the bike and put my skills-or lack thereof-on display. They were so nervous about letting me loose on my own that they insisted all of us take a biking expedition together—with their four-year old daughter leading the way—so I could practice a little more. Once they felt I had finally passed their biking lessons, they hesitantly let me loose to go fulfilling my romantic visions of exploring the city independently. Unfortunately the ending was a little bit less than ideal when later that day I got hit by a car. Not as dramatic as it sounds since neither of us were really moving, but there was still definite impact between bike and vehicle, leaving me with a lovely scar on my left leg and the bike a bit bent out of shape. Really embarrassing.

So with my snapshots of biking in mind, it’s probably a little hard to believe that Dan and I just biked 131 miles, primarily in two days, from Hualien to Taitung. No falls. No accidents. And only one broken bicycle that wasn’t actually any fault of mine. (That story is coming later.)

Hualien Train Station: The beginning of our journey

Odometer in Taitung

What’s more, cycling from Hualien to Taitung is one of our favorite things we’ve done during our entirety in Taiwan. The route is extremely popular because of the beautiful surrounding landscapes, but I have to say I underestimated how truly stunning the East Coast is. We were blessed with amazing weather-quite possibly a first for us in Taiwan-and slightly overcast skies kept us cool while still allowing divine views. Dramatic peaks and gorges of the East Rift Valley towered on our left, the glistening Pacific Ocean stretched on for miles on our right, and verdant green rice paddies surrounded us on either side. Needless to say we were entertained by the beauty around us, which also helped to distract us from the intensity of riding so far.

A Cruising Couple Cycling East Rift Valley

Cycling In the East Rift Valley

East Rift Valley

East Rift Valley Rice Fields

A Cruising Couple Cycling Taiwan East Coast

East Coast of Taiwan

Rice Fields on the Coast

We followed a route we found here. In our opinion it is the most scenic option, as it includes the popular Highway 11 (along the coast), Highway 9 (through the East Rift Valley), as well as Route 193 and Highway 30. Be forewarned though, this isn’t the easiest route as it includes some pretty steep climbs in the mountains for a lot of the trip. But if you have the stamina, it’s totally worth it. There is one particularly steep climb on the 30 that seems to stretch on for ages. But when you finally make it to the top, sweat-drenched and praying for an end to the vertical ascent, you’ll come to a long tunnel. On the other side of the tunnel is the most incredible part of the whole cycling trip: a bird’s-eye view is the reward for the ridiculous climb, as well as twenty minutes of downhill coasting that takes you past striking snapshots of the Pacific as it collides with the adjacent mountains. Ahhh-mazing.

Top of the Mountain

Downhill Section on the East Coast

Scenic Overlook After the Tunnel

We split the trip up into three days; however, if ending in central Taitung, the trip could easily be done in two. The biggest advantage of taking three days to complete the route is that it allows you to stay the night in Ruishui and Dulan—two cities we would love to explore further in depth. Ruishui is a scenic little town primarily visited for its Japanese-style hot springs. Dulan is a small beach town about 20 kilometers outside of Taitung City, filled to the brim with surfers and hippies, most of whom are expats. If you want to add some surfing to your cycling trip—like Dan did—Dulan is the best place to stay. If we could do anything differently, we would have gotten an earlier start the first two days of our trip, allowing more of an opportunity to explore these two places.

Dulan Beach

Dan and I like to think we’re in relatively good shape, but after three days of cycling, our thighs were on fire. That being said, if you are pretty fit, then you can totally handle cycling from Hualien to Taitung. Additionally, staying on Highway 11 the whole way does make the trip a bit more manageable.

Cycling Lane on Highway 11

If going on a cycling trip, there are absolutely two things you must invest in:

Biker shorts. The spandex isn’t that sexy, but the padding is seriously worth it. Trust me, you will thank us later.
Tire patch kit. Turns out this wouldn’t have actually fixed the problem with my bike, but it might have helped. There are quite a few areas from Hualien to Taitung that taxis don’t frequent and towns are few and far between.

Other than that, don’t bring much. You’ll really feel the extra weight pulling you backwards on those hills.

We aren’t naïve to the fact that 131 miles isn’t actually that far; after all, tri-athletes practically cover that distance in a couple hours and it’s just a third of the race. But if you had told me in high school that I was going on a multi-day biking trip, I would have laughed in your face. Now, after doing it once, I’m already thinking about doing it again. Even through the sweat and hard work, all I could think during our trip was how lucky we were to be cycling around such a beautiful country. There’s definitely a sense of fulfillment in knowing your own body is what powered you to get from point A to point B, no matter how far that might be. Plus, cycling is a great way to discover a new place, as it allows you to travel slowly but efficiently while really taking in the surrounding scenes. It’s eco-friendly, locals love to cheer you on, and you’re forced to travel light. Not to mention, beer tastes a heck of a lot better after you worked all day for it. We are totally inspired to take another cycling trip on a larger scale. Now we just need a new destination-any suggestions?

Mission Accomplished!

There is the whole scenario of the broken bicycle and how it practically took everyone on the East Coast to help us get the situation sorted. That story to come later this week…

Photo Friday | Infinity Pool Surfing | Lombok, Indonesia

Apr 052013

This is a snap-shot Casey grabbed while enjoying a relaxing afternoon by our infinity pool at Qunci Villas, Lombok, Indonesia. It was the perfect spot for us because Casey could spend the day reading and lounging next to the infinity pool while I sat on my rented surfboard. Indonesia is legendary for it’s surf, but unfortunately our trip was anything but heavy with swell. This was actually the most consistent day we had the whole month we were in Indo, and while it wasn’t exactly ‘barrels all around’, I did manage to catch a few lazy waves and make some friends in the process.

10 Things To Love About Bali

Feb 012013

Anything that has to do with poop is automatically deemed either childishly humorous or just super gross. Even saying the word out loud might bring a chuckle along, especially if you’re of the same maturity level we are. Of course, there is always an exception. In this case, it’s Bali’s lowak coffee. I was lucky enough to get a sip of this extra smooth, velvety cup of Joe, freshly roasted via coffee beans a civet pooped out. And yes, that’s correct—I actually thought it tasted phenomenal. Especially once I got the fact out of my head that it had already passed through the digestive track of a luwak—which are SO cute, btw. Unfortunately, Dan detests everything about coffee, so while he can’t quite be included in the sentiment, I did get him to admit that extra-sugary-vanilla-milk-with-a-hint-of-coffee is okay. After six years of trying, I’ll take it.

While we might be in discrepancy about the coffee, we are certainly in agreement about the rest of Bali. There will be lots of photos and descriptions in the near future, but until then, here’s a bit of an appetizer: just a few of the things we love about Bali. Hopefully it will entice you to come back for seconds. And thirds. And maybe even fourths.

10 Things We Love About Bali

1. The View From Our Room at Suara Ombak

That’s Dan. He’s in our room. And that’s the panoramic view of the Bukit Penninsula, including major surf spots like Bingin Beach and Dreamland. I guess you could say we’re comfortable.

2. The Photogenic Monkeys

Sorry, I just had to pick two pictures for this one. I mean, let’s be honest, they are just too adorable to turn one away. Although, I guess if I have to choose, the one that’s falling asleep might win by just a tad. We also have one where its eyes are half closed— again, SO cute.

3. The Sunsets

We already posted a picture of a sunset here, but we just had to include this in our list of favorites. While this is also a picture taken at Jimbaran Bay, the sunsets are amazing every night from almost any location.

4. The Pool at Puri Bambu

The Puri Bambu is a great hotel for an exceptional value. We were especially in love with the pool, and its swim-up bar. Although the prices wouldn’t really convey it, you can expect resort quality service here.

5. Ubud

If the monkeys are photogenic, we don’t even know how to describe Ubud. It’s a sort of photographer’s paradise, with picture taking opportunities around every corner. This is especially an issue for me as I am obsessed with cute alleyways, decorative doorways, and vibrant gardens. I’m pretty sure Dan is getting sick of hearing, “Take a picture of that! No wait, take a picture of that!” Which I say, oh, probably about 30 times a day.

6. Surfing the East Coast

I really don’t surf at all. Which is unfortunate, because I think surfing is pretty rad. But even I couldn’t resist renting a board and having a go in the perfectly turquoise water at Padang Padang. While I might have epically failed, Dan has been doing a great job catching waves, even if it’s currently Bali’s off season.

Unknown surfer

7. Yoga Yoga Yoga

If Dan has surfing, I have yoga. I have been so excited to finally have a vacation where I can really let go and spend more time on my practice, and luckily there are lots of hippies in Bali to help me.

8. Legong, Ramanyana, and Barong Dancing

There’s lots of traditional Balinese dancing to be seen, and we have really been enjoying some of the shows available. Ubud has been a great place to take advantage of the live shows offered every night of the week. One of our favorites was the Legong dance (pictured here), seen outside the Ubud Palace.

9. The Bukit Peninsula

This is the paradise I imagined Bali to be. Stunning vistas, beautiful beaches, and lots of opportunities for those photos of me contemplating life. This is one of the few shots where I actually had no idea Dan was quietly stalking from behind.

10. The Balinese People

Maybe this one sounds a bit cliché, but it is most certainly true. Balinese people are warm and inviting, and we feel very lucky to have met so many incredible hosts in such a short time. This beautiful and regal woman below had one of the most serene smiles and genuine handshakes we’ve encountered so far.

It was really hard to narrow down all the things we love about Bali to only 10. So don’t be shy–tell us, what do you love about Bali?

Chasing Blue Flames and Surviving Sulfur Clouds–Mt. Ijen

Jan 292013

I never thought I would find myself hiking to the center of an active volcano at 2am in the morning, fighting off clouds of suffocating volcanic gasses, all for the sake of seeing some ‘magical’ blue flames. But there I was, doing exactly that. With a tour guide, five Europeans, and a couple of headlamps, we set out at 1am to climb Mt. Ijen, a volcano in the eastern part of Java. We sort-of knew what we were getting ourselves into, having previously researched climbable volcanoes and such. However, we were definitely in no way prepared for the actual situation. It’s not that Ijen is a hard trek. Climbing up is a bit steep and descending in a bit challenging, but it’s nothing like a 15-minute Amanda Russell workout. (Her free YouTube videos seriously kill me.)

What’s the difficulty then? Those suffocating clouds I mentioned. From an active vent in the volcano, gasses billow out. And when the wind blows, these dense fumes head straight for your lungs, leaving you coughing and anxious to find cover. At least this was the case for us. I think we might have been there during an especially windy day though after talking to fellow travelers who had previously tackled Ijen without the same experience. Regardless, it’s not something to be taken lightly.

The purpose of subjecting ourselves to such conditions was to see the legendary blue flames. At night, jets of sulfur gas burst out of the volcano, burning a fiery blue. It’s only visible at night, and only in certain parts of the volcano. Unfortunately, the conditions weren’t really ideal for taking photos, so our pictures don’t quite show the magnitude or beauty of the blue flames.

While the blue flames were pretty cool, they’re not what make Mt. Ijen so remarkable; rather, it’s the sulfur miners who work inside of it everyday.

Job description: hike into an active volcano, breath toxic gasses, extract sulfur deposits, and carry 150lbs of it on your shoulders back out of the volcano for barely enough money to get by. Who’s ready to sign up?

More specifically, the gasses inside the volcano are channeled through pipes that then produce sulfur deposits. The miners’ job is to break off this sulfur and carry backbreaking loads of it on their shoulders to a nearby refinery. And they do it for less than $15 a day. It is absolutely unbelievable the conditions that these miners work in day in and day out. After a mere hour, our entire trekking group was ready to leave the treacherous conditions of Ijen. Unfortunately, this isn’t really a choice for the miners that depend upon it for their livelihood. What’s more, during our brief time at Ijen we only saw one miner wearing a respirator. Only one.

After hiking Mt. Ijen, Dan and I had differing opinions on the experience. Dan thought it was cool, but not something he would necessarily recommend, in large part due to the gasses. I found it to be strangely beautiful, watching the dancing blue flames framed by smoke with a sky full of sparkling stars above. I felt as though we had descended into another world. However, we both agreed that if you decide to enter Mt. Ijen, do it at night. The experience is not nearly the same in the middle of the day, and you miss out on the beautiful sunrise that paints the sky behind the surrounding volcanoes.

There are plenty of tour groups that will take you to Mt. Bromo and Mt. Ijen. These tours can be organized from Yogyakarta or Bali, just be sure to clarify if Ijen is a day or night hike.

Batik, Puppets, Jackfruit and Sultans in Jogja

Jan 252013

Dan doesn’t normally help too much with writing the blog posts because he ‘claims’ he’s no good at it. Which is a shame, because we all know he is absolutely hilarious. Normally he will oblige me by going back into the posts and adding his own zingers here and there. For Yogyakarta he’s done the same; but now we’re mixing it up with a bit of I Spy Dan’s Writing. See if you can’t find which parts he wrote in his oh-so-Dan-style.

Yogyakarta (Jogja) is a small city in Java, often referred to as the arts and cultural capital of Java. It’s a hub for tourists that make it their base for the famous temples Borobudur and Prambanan, as well as those booking tours to head east to Mt. Bromo. (Just like us.)

Jogja has a lot to offer visitors within the confines of the city, though we found most of these things doable in one day.

The Batik ‘Scam’

Everywhere you turn in jogja, someone will be trying to sell you batik. If they aren’t outright selling it, they’ll be referring you to a friend’s shop down the road where someone else will be trying to sell it. They may even try to sell you a washer and dryer before directing you to the local batik art shop. Of course, that was where we found the best selection: Jogja Art Group. Everyone knows it, including the appliance shop owners nearby. You might hear that the Yogya Art Group is only open certain days of the week, but we’re not sure if this is accurate or just a way to get you to shop immediately. Nonetheless, if you find it open, go inside. There you can watch a batik demonstration, where the owner will explain the process of dying the fabric, coating the areas you don’t want re-painted with wax, and then dying the fabric again. This process is repeated over and over until the desired picture is achieved.

Although the demonstration is interesting, obviously the best part is actually shopping for the batiks. Dan and I don’t collect much when we travel, but we have taken to buying art to display in our home one day. Batiks are perfect for this as they easily fold up. When you are ready to display them, just get out your iron to get rid of any creases and there ya go. So here it is: the scam. There are lots of people in Jogja selling printed batiks. Apparently there are two ways to tell if it is handmade:

1. Look at the back. It should look the same as the front.

2. Put it in water to make sure the paint doesn’t run.

I’m no Batik expert, but they all looked pretty good to me. The prices are pre-marked according to the painter (student or master), which keeps the sellers from charging absolutely extortionate prices, but we found you could still negotiate a bit. We ended up leaving with three batiks I absolutely adore for what I found to be very reasonable prices, especially after watching all the time and effort that goes into creating the works of art. Are they actually authentic? We’ll probably never know. We’ve heard mixed things from the Jogja Art Group, but we’re really happy with what we bought and I guess that’s all that matters.

If the previous paragraphs of our batik experience are a bit too lengthy for you, feel free to just read this eloquent summary: Practical and picturesque, these precious pretty portraits prices are profoundly painless on your pocket. Public painters in the proximate population prepare every part of every painting. The paint on the paintings is painted with protective wax, to protect the paint. We promptly picked a pair Pablo Picasso (or possibly Peter Piper) would be proud of.

Handmade Puppets: A little more fancy than your average brown paper bag

I’m not really a puppet person. Actually, I don’t think I know anyone who is a puppet person. But the puppets you’ll find in Yogyakarta are just plain cool. Shadow puppets are an ancient Indonesian form of storytelling, consisting of wooden puppets maneuvered behind a shadow screen, with accompanying gamelan music. The puppet shops are almost as common as batik, and you can also find a puppet making demonstration in most of the shops. The process looks like it requires painstakingly steady patience—something I definitely don’t have. To make the handcrafted shadow puppets, the artist begins with a piece of buffalo skin. After it is cut to the desired shape, various sized chisels, which are recycled from old bicycle spokes, are used to ingrain intricate and delicate patterns. On the bottom third of the puppet, near the feet, you’ll find four different patterns that represent the four elements of nature: earth, wind, water, and fire. With their powers combined, they continue up to the middle portion of the puppet, where you would find the heart. Here the patterns change to resemble the rising and falling of human emotions. Finally, the top portion of the puppet contains designs that signify the crown of knowledge. After the chiseling process is finished, the painting can begin. It’s another tedious task that results in a beautiful, intricate, one-of-a-kind puppet.

After learning all about the shadow puppets, we recommend seeing an actual shadow puppet performance. They are held every night of the week (except Sunday) outside of the Sonobudoyo Museum for a mere $2. The cool thing about these shows is that the stage is 365 degrees. You can sit and look at the shadow puppet show, then walk around to the ‘behind the scenes action’ where a gamelan and live singers are set up. This is especially neat during the puppet fighting scenes when the puppet master is twirling the puppets around his head and throwing them into the air. It’s not exactly a heavyweight championship, although we would love to see a crowd out of their seats cheering and jeering for puppets. If you do attend a showing, be aware that it is two hours long with no English translation. We had no idea what was going on during the performance, so we left after about an hour, which appeared totally acceptable.

The Local Pick: Gudeg

I love food. It’s seriously one of my favorite things about travelling. I especially love eating new food in a small, cheap restaurant crowded with local people. We struck gold in Yogyakarta with Gudeg, a dish distinctive to the Javanese city. It doesn’t look all that appetizing at first. Most of the colors on the plate are actually of a brownish hue, and the only thing we could initially recognize was a chicken thigh. We skeptically followed the ‘at least one bite’ rule, and were quite impressed by what we tasted. It was actually like nothing we had ever tried before. Gudeg is primarily made from jackfruit that has been boiled for several hours with various seasonings, and is served with rice, chicken, hardboiled eggs, tofu, and crispy beef skins.

I don’t know Jack, but he picked a hell of a tasty fruit.

Strolling About the Sultan’s Palace

For those who are unfamiliar, sultans are short, fat kings who have friends with magical powers, talking animals and know big blue genies. Yogyakarta just so happens to have its own sultan’s palace. While we didn’t pay to go inside, we did spend an afternoon getting lost around the area. There are beautiful side streets off of chaotic city roads, as well as a mini-fair with loads of local foods to try. It can be quite an exotic experience walking this area amongst the loads of rickshaws and horse carriages while hearing islamic chanting from the mosques, all the while smelling the spicy, deep-fried street food. Although contrary to what you might think, it’s a refreshing contrast to the main tourist street where the foreign hostels and restaurants are primarily located.

So who did it? How many Dan-isms can you find?

Adventure Indonesia–Commence!

Jan 192013

We’re in Indonesia!!

I know, we just went home to North Carolina for Christmas—which was so incredibly awesome—but we finally have our long awaited one-month hiatus from work. Sort of a teacher’s summer vacation except for it’s now. And what better way to spend your non-summer vacation than in hot and tropical Bali?!

The bulk of our trip will be spent in Bali, the Gili Islands, and Lombok, but we have a flexible schedule with only a few reservations here and there, so who knows where we’ll end up.

A perfect example: we were planning on hanging out in Jakarta for a day just to get a glimpse of the capital city. Unfortunately, due to the severe flooding that killed at least 12. We decided to go ahead and take a night train to Yogyakarta. As we speak (I type?) we’re sitting in the train station with a good cup of Nescafe as the thunder reverberates through the building, threatening more flooding to come. Luckily for us we’ll arrive in Yogyakarta at 3:00am. Do we have a hotel? Of course not. Are we super excited, nonetheless? You bet. There’s something incredibly liberating about not having anywhere to be.

You’re probably super tired of reading all the tons of blog posts we’ve had lately *cough* but we really are going to blog about our trip as often as possible. Of course, we’re not going to let it interfere with our hiking, scuba diving, surfing, yoga, massages, tropical drinks on the beach…you get the idea. But if we get the time we’ll keep you updated on all the great things we’ve seen, along with our personal recommendations for travelling in Indonesia.

So stay tuned, because I’m sure this time tomorrow we’ll have something awesome to share with you.

Have you been to Java or Bali? Don’t be shy…comment and give us your recommendations!

October in Taiwan: A Review in 31 Pictures

Nov 112012

Maybe it’s not all that original, but I seriously love the month of October. Dan asked me to be his girlfriend six Octobers ago; he proposed a lifetime together only two back. Octobers bring things like the state fair and deep-fried snicker bars, pumpkin spiced everything, and jumping in all those beautiful leaves decorating the ground. (Because playing in the leaves is still a normal thing for married couples in their 20′s to do, right?) October in Taiwan has only amplified my love for this fall month.

I think that if it could be October year-round, I would never ever want to leave. I do realize that it is actually November now, but luckily the clear blue skies, decrease in humidity, and cooler weather have stuck around–without adding all the rain just yet. We’ve been quite busy over here, so we thought we would give a quick review of the past month (including a bit of November). There are LOTS of pictures, but stay with us through the whole post to see our exciting news at the end!

Motorcycling into Miaoli County

We started the month off by packing up some book bags and heading into the mountains. While I’m pretty sure we exceeded the 5kg weight limit on the cargo rack, we successfully made it out of the city and into we’re-not-exactly-sure-where. We had intended on actually trekking with our bags up a mountain, but ended up finding an idyllic and secluded location to set up our tent just outside the trailhead for the Smangus Trees (really big, old trees). Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to see the trees before the sunset, but we did manage to do a bit of hiking through the mountains first.

Emei Resevoir

This quaint spot outside Hsinchu offers lots of places to cycle, stroll, or drink tea while enjoying the views of the lake and massive Buddha. You might remember our previous picture of the statue taken from afar, so here’s a closer look.

Halloween

This Halloween, Dan and I were a little bit lame and decided to skip all the parties and festivities. However, we did get our fair dose of Halloween. Dan’s Pre-ESL class did Halloween crafts while at Kindy I took my students trick-or-treating at a nearby department store. Are they not adorable?!

Bike Riding Houli

Bike riding is hugely popular in Taiwan right now. We’re hoping to take advantage of all the cross-island paths sometime before we leave, but until we get the time we are forced to stay a little closer to home. Houli is about 45 minutes south of Hsinchu via train. It offers a nice–but very crowded–bike path that is about 18km long and passes a winery, farmland, and lots of cafes and restaurants. We were impressed by the winery for its quaint grounds and interesting selection of mostly sweet fruit wines. Be prepared for selections like mulberry, plum and onion. Yes, onion wine, apparently their best-seller.

Italian Opera and American Fireworks

October 10th is Taiwan’s Double Ten Day, or National Day, celebrating the birth of the Republic of China. As part of the festivities, Miaoli was hosting a month of free concerts and fireworks. We stopped by for the Alessandro Safina concert, and were blown away by the talent of the opera singer we had never heard before. We suggest checking out his song Luna. Following the concert was a fireworks display from an American team. It was a super enjoyable evening and 100% free.

Long Dong

Long Dong is hands down our favorite place in Taiwan. It draws climbers from around Taiwan and even throughout Asia for its isolated climbing on sandstone crags up to 70m in height. There are over 500 routes, with options for sport climbs, trad, deep water solo and bouldering. Even though my climbing skills aren’t quite up to par with Dan’s awesomeness, I absolutely love Long Dong for it’s breathtaking views. Seriously, does it get much more beautiful than this? Okay, well, maybe this.

Exploring Beipu

Last time we were in Beipu it was to try our hand at pounding out traditional Leicha. This time was just an excuse to walk around and take some pictures on a beautiful day. The highlight was successfully finding BK, a remote bakery in the mountains that makes ah-mazing bread, with options like apricot apple and whole grain blueberry. The best part? They deliver to Hsinchu, free of charge!

So there you have it. The past month and a half-ish in 31 pictures. We promised if you made it to the end we would have some exciting news for you, so without any further delay, here it is! A Cruising Couple was recently chosen as one of Taiwan’s best travel blogs by Easyvoyage UK Check out their site for a lot of great information from local bloggers around the world, and don’t miss what they have to say about us!